Conflict management of functions and services in a radio intelligent controller user interface

The disclosure relates to computer networking and, more specifically, to conflict management of functions and services with a radio intelligent controller.

Computer networks have become ubiquitous, and the number of network applications, network-connected devices, and types of network-connected devices are rapidly expanding. Such devices now include computers, smartphones, Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, vehicles, medical devices factory equipment, etc. 5G mobile network architectures enhanced the ability to provide communication services using cloud-based network function virtualization (NFV). Specialized networks can be created using the Radio Access Network (RAN) of a mobile network operator combined with functions of a 5G core. For example, networks can be created for a specific service level agreement (SLA), special use cases, or other specific requirements. Examples of such networks include private mobile networks, industrial networks, a dedicated network for connected vehicles, etc.

In general, the disclosure describes techniques for conflict management of functions and services in a user interface (UI), for example, of a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) for a RAN of a mobile network. For example, a network system may include a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework offering various framework functions along with a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC, configured in accordance with Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) standards (“O-RAN architecture”), to manage and/or monitor aspects of a RAN and/or 5G core. The O-RAN architecture may include a non-RT RIC and a near-real-time RIC (near-RT RIC) that each executes different functions and services for RAN functions. For example, the non-RT RIC is an orchestration and automation function configured to provide radio resource management, higher layer procedure optimization, policy optimization, and provide guidance, parameters, policies and AI/ML models to support the operation of near-RT RIC functions in the RAN. The non-RT RIC may onboard one or more applications (e.g., rApps) that provide non-real time (e.g., greater than one second) control of RAN elements and their resources, and the near-RT RIC may onboard one or more applications (e.g., xApps) that provide near-real time control of RAN elements and their resources. The O-RAN architecture includes several interfaces, such as A1, O1, and O2 interfaces, that are each used to provide the functions and services by which the SMO and RIC can configure or direct other components of the RAN. For example, the functions and services of a non-RT RIC may include policy management services and/or enrichment information services for a near-RT RIC that are provided over an A1 interface (collectively referred to herein as “A1 services” because they provided over the A1 interface); performance management services, configuration management services, and/or Operations, Administration, and Management (OAM) services for O-RAN management elements that are provided over an O1 interface (referred to herein as “O1 services” because they are provided over the O1 interface); configuration management services and performance management services for resources of an O-RAN cloud that are provided over an O2 interface (referred to herein as “O2 services” because they are provided over the O2 interface), and/or other services, such as service management and exposure (SME) services (e.g., registration of a service, update of a service registration), data management and exposure (DME) services, and/or AI/ML services. According to the techniques disclosed herein, the non-RT RIC may include one or more microservices configured to provide conflict management for these functions and services.

In accordance with the techniques of this disclosure, the non-RT RIC may provide conflict management of policies for A1 services. For example, a conflict manager of the non-RT RIC may receive a request from an application to perform an A1 service (e.g., create or update a policy of the application) and determine whether the A1 service has a conflict due to the policy. Based on the determination of whether the A1 service has a conflict, the non-RT RIC may perform an action to address the conflict (e.g., by implementing (or not implementing) the policy of the application based on conflict management rules). In some examples, the non-RT RIC may provide conflict management of policies for O1 services. For example, the conflict manager of the non-RT RIC may receive a request from an application to perform an O1 service (e.g., implement configuration changes of RAN elements, create a performance job, etc.) and determine whether the O1 service has a conflict. Based on the determination of whether the O1 service has a conflict, the non-RT RIC may perform an action to address the conflict (e.g., by implementing (or not implementing) the configuration changes based on conflict management rules). In some examples, the non-RT RIC may provide conflict management for O2 services. For example, the conflict manager of the non-RT RIC may receive a request from an application to perform an O2 service (e.g., implement configuration changes of resources of the O-RAN cloud) and determine whether the O2 service has a conflict. Based on the determination of whether the O2 service has a conflict, the non-RT RIC may perform an action to address the conflict (e.g., by implementing (or not implementing) the configuration based on conflict management rules). In some examples, the non-RT RIC may provide conflict management for policies of other services, such as SME services (e.g., registration of service, update of service registration), DME services, and/or AL/ML services.

In accordance with the techniques of this disclosure, the conflict manager of the non-RT RIC may display to a user one or more policy conflicts and their resolution strategies on a UI of the non-RT RIC and provide a capability for the user to configure the conflict resolution strategies from the UI of the non-RT RIC.

The techniques may provide one or more technical advantages that realize at least one practical application. For example, the techniques in this disclosure may provide conflict management in a RAN and more particularly, for conflicts relating to A1, O1, or O2 services using a non-RT RIC deployed according to the O-RAN framework. Moreover, the techniques in this disclosure may provide a configurable conflict management system such that an operator may configure various settings of the conflict management system through a UI, such as the implementation of specific conflict management rules (including conflict resolution strategies). When the requested policies are configured in the RAN in accordance with conflict management strategies set by the user from the user interface as described herein, the RAN can reduce the number of conflicts and/or the impact of conflicts over resources that would otherwise occur.

In one example, the techniques include a Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC) for a radio access network (RAN), the non-RT RIC comprising processor circuitry; and a memory coupled to the processor circuitry, the memory storing instructions, when executed, to cause the processor circuitry to display a plurality of policies for an interface service of the RAN; receive an indication of selection of a conflict resolution strategy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have the conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type, modify a configuration of the RAN.

In another example, the techniques include a method comprising displaying a plurality of policies for an interface service of a radio access network (RAN); receiving an indication of selection of a conflict resolution strategy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determining whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have the conflict, accepting the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displaying an indication of the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type, modifying a configuration of the RAN.

In another example, the techniques include non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC) for managing non-real time events of a radio access network (RAN) to display a plurality of policies for an interface service of the RAN; receive an indication of selection of a conflict resolution strategy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have the conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type, modify a configuration of the RAN.

The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout the text and figures.

1 FIG.A 1 FIG.A 100 112 122 124 109 105 104 104 104 140 is a block diagram illustrating an example network system configured to provide conflict management of functions and services of a RAN, in accordance with one or more techniques of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in, network systemincludes Service and Management Orchestrator (SMO), non-RT RIC, near-RT RIC, one or more radio access networks (RANs), e.g., RAN, and mobile core network (or simply “core”)that provide user equipmentA-N (collectively, “UEs”) with access to one or more applications or services provided by data network.

104 100 109 104 109 109 106 106 106 140 106 106 1 FIG.A UEsmay represent smartphones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, smart watches, and/or “Internet-of-Things” (IoT) devices, such as cameras, sensors, televisions, appliances, or the like. As shown in, network systemincludes RANthat provides network access, data transport, and other services to UEs. In some examples, RANmay be an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN), a 5G mobile network RAN, a 4G LTE mobile network RAN, another type of RAN, or a combination of the above. For example, in a 5G-radio access network, RANcomprises a plurality of cell sites (or simply “cells”) that each include radio equipment, such as base stationsA-M (collectively, “base stations”), also known as gNodeBs, to exchange packetized data within a data network to ultimately access one or more applications or services provided by data network. Each of base stationsis divided into three functional components: radio unit (RU), distributed unit (DU), and central unit (CU), which can be deployed in various configurations. RU manages the radio frequency layer and has antenna arrays of various sizes and shapes. DU performs lower layer protocol processing. CU performs the upper layer protocol processing. Depending on operator and service requirements, base stationscan be deployed monolithically, e.g., RU, DU, and CU reside within a cell site, or these functionalities can be distributed across cell sites while the CU resides in an edge cloud site controlling a plurality of distributed DUs. O-RAN is, for example, an approach to networking in which disaggregated functions can be used to deploy mobile front-haul and mid-haul networks. The disaggregated functions can be cloud-based functions.

109 105 140 105 140 105 109 105 100 105 104 105 Radio access networksconnect to coreto exchange packets with data network. Coremay be a 5G core network, and data network (DN)may represent, for example, one or more service provider networks and services, the Internet, third party services, one or more IP-VPNs, an IP-multimedia subsystem, a combination thereof, or other network or combination of networks. In some examples, resources associated with the service provided by a mobile network operator to the tenant may be provided by, or managed by, functions of coreand/or components of RAN. In some examples, coreimplements various discrete control plane and user plane functions for network system. Examples of 5G control plane functions that may be provided by coreinclude Access Mobility Management Function (AMF) that provides access mobility management services, Session Management Function (SMF) that provides session management services, Policy Control Function (PCF) that provides policy control services, User Data Management (UDM) that provides management of network user data, Network Repository Function (NRF) that provides a repository that can be used to register and discover services in a network operator's network, Authentication Server Function (AUSF) that provides authentication services, Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Slice Management Function (NSMF) that may be used to select an instance of an available network slice for use by any of UE devices, and Network Slice Subnet Management Function (NSSMF) that provides coordination, management, and orchestration of network slice subnet instances (NSSI). Coremay also include User Plane Functions (UPF) that provides packet routing, forwarding and other network data processing functions (e.g., Quality of Service, packet inspection, traffic optimization etc.). Further details on services and functions provided by the 5G core can be found in 3rd Generation Partnership Project Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; System architecture for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 18), TS 23.501 V18.2.2 (2023-07), the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Further details on the O-RAN architecture can be found in O-RAN Alliance, “O-RAN Work Group 1 (Use Cases and Overall Architecture) O-RAN Architecture Description,” O-RAN.WG1.OAD-R003-v10.00, October 2023, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

109 105 112 122 124 112 122 124 112 109 112 122 124 122 124 124 122 124 124 1 FIG.B Aspects of RANand/or coremay be managed and/or monitored by SMO, non-RT RIC, and near-RT RIC. In some examples, SMO, non-RT RIC, and near-RT RICmay be operated by the mobile network operator providing 5G services to a tenant. SMOcan orchestrate and control management and automation aspects of RAN(e.g., network slicing, management, and orchestration of O-Cloud, etc.). Further, SMOmay control aspects of non-RT RICand near-RT RIC. Non-RT RICcan provide non-real-time (e.g., greater than one second) control and optimization of RAN elements and resources such as RUs, DUs, and CUs, workflow management, and policy-based control of applications and features of near-RT RIC. Near-RT RICcan provide near-real-time (e.g., milliseconds) control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions. As further described in, non-RT RICand near-RT RICmay deploy as a highly scalable, microservices based containerized architecture. In some examples, near-RT RICmay be located within an edge or regional cloud.

122 123 122 123 122 123 124 123 124 124 125 124 125 124 124 123 122 122 122 123 122 124 125 124 1 FIG.B 2 FIG.A Non-RT RICmay onboard one or more applications, e.g., applications(e.g., rApps of) that manage non-real time events within non-RT RIC, such as applications that do not require response times of less than one second. Applicationsmay leverage the functionality exposed via the non-RT RIC framework of non-RT RIC. Applicationsmay be used to control and manage RAN elements and resources, such as near-RT RIC, RAN nodes, and/or resources in the O-RAN cloud. Applicationsmay also utilize network data, performance metrics, and subscriber data to provide recommendations for network optimization and operational guidance (e.g., policies) to one or more applications of near-RT RIC. Near-RT RICmay onboard one or more applications, e.g., applications(e.g., xApps of) that manage near-real time events within near-RT RIC. Applicationsmay leverage the functionality exposed via the near-RT RIC framework of near-RT RIC. Near-RT RICmay enforce policies received from applicationsof non-RT RICand may provide policy feedback to non-RT RIC. Although illustrated as within non-RT RIC, any one or more of applicationsmay be executed by a third party, separate from non-RT RIC. Likewise, although illustrated as within near-RT RIC, any one or more of applicationsmay be executed by a third party, separate from near-RT RIC.

122 122 124 122 112 124 122 112 122 122 As described further below, non-RT RICmay provide services using A1, O1, and O2 interfaces. An A1 interface connects the non-RT RICand near-RT RIC. Non-RT RICmay perform services via the A1 interface, such as policy management services (e.g., creation and update of a policy), ML model management services, and/or enrichment information services. Services performed via the A1 interface are referred to herein as “A1 services.” An O1 interface may include an interface that connects SMOwith O-RAN managed elements, such as near-RT RICand/or RAN nodes (e.g., O-RAN centralized unit (O-CU), O-RAN distributed unit (O-DU)). Non-RT RICmay perform services via the O1 interface, such as configuration management services and performance management services of O-RAN managed elements (e.g., operation and maintenance (OAM) services), fault supervision, file management, heartbeat, trace, physical network function (PNF) discovery, software management, etc.). Services performed via the O1 interface are referred to herein as “O1 services.” An O2 interface may include an interface that connects SMOto resources of the ORAN O-Cloud. The O-Cloud may comprise of one or more physical infrastructure nodes that host O-RAN functions (e.g., virtual network functions), the supporting software components, and the appropriate management and orchestration functions. Non-RT RICmay perform services via the O2 interface, such as services that provide infrastructure management and/or network function deployment of the resources in the O-Cloud (e.g., discovery and administration of O-Cloud resources; Scale-In, Scale-Out of cloud/deployments; Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security (FCAPS) of cloud/deployments, software management of cloud platform/deployments; create/delete deployment and associated allocated O-Cloud resources). Services performed via the O2 interface are referred to herein as “O2 services.” Non-RT RICmay also perform other functions and services, such as service management and exposure (SME) services (e.g., registration of a service, update of a service registration), data management and exposure (DME) services, AI/ML services, or the like.

122 123 In some instances, functions and/or services (e.g., A1 services, O1 services, O2 services, etc.) provided by non-RT RICmay be in conflict. Some conflicts may be observed directly by the framework functions (referred to herein as a “direct conflict”). For example, two or more applicationsmay request different settings for the very same parameters of a target (e.g., a first application requests for a first priority of a network slice, whereas a second application requests for a second, different priority for the same network slice). A target may be a configurable parameter, setting, object, or resource of the RAN, such as a priority, a policy, a network slice or network slice parameter, etc. As another example, an application may perform a change that conflicts with a running configuration from a previous request of the same or another application. As another example, an application may perform a change that exceeds the limitation of the target or RAN.

In some examples, some conflicts may not be observed directly, but dependence among the parameters and resources that the applications are targeting can be observed (referred to herein as an “indirect conflict”). For example, an application may perform a change that creates a system impact which is equivalent to a change performed by another application (e.g., applications performing different actions, but impacts to the system are equivalent). The above are example types of conflicts and are merely some examples of the types of conflicts. Other conflicts may be observable, such as conflicts that are not observed directly of where the dependency between applications is not obvious (referred to as an “implicit conflict”).

122 122 121 121 In accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure, non-RT RICmay provide conflict management for one or more non-RT RIC functions or services (e.g., A1 services, O1 services, O2 services, and other services). In this example, non-RT RICmay include a conflict managerconfigured to provide conflict management for one or more non-RT RIC functions or services. Conflict managermay be implemented, for example, by one or more microservices.

122 121 121 122 123 124 121 121 122 122 123 121 121 122 As further described below, non-RT RICmay include a conflict managerconfigured to determine whether A1 services have a conflict. For example, conflict managerof non-RT RICmay determine, in response to receiving a request from an applicationto create a policy to be deployed to near RT-RICvia the A1 interface, whether the creation of the policy would cause a conflict. If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RIC(e.g., a policy manager of non-RT RIC) to proceed with the creation of the policy of the application. If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict (e.g., policy statements would conflict with a previously deployed policy from the application or another application), conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict. Such actions to address the conflict may include, for example, implementing (or not implementing) the policy based on one or more conflict management rules. The conflict management rules may include, for example, implementing a policy based on a first come, first served basis, implementing a policy from the application with a higher priority (referred to herein as “priority-based overriding”), implementing a policy based on scope of the policy (e.g., implementing a policy with a specific scope rather than a policy with a generic scope), implementing a policy based on an Information Object Class (IOC) type or based on an IOC type and attribute of the IOC. In some examples, a user may specify which conflict management rule to apply to address the conflict.

121 121 122 In some examples, an application may request for guidance from the conflict managerbefore creating a policy. In these examples, conflict managerof non-RT RICmay determine if there is a conflict with the creation of the policy and provide a response (e.g., guidance response) that indicates whether there is a conflict or not, includes one or more recommendations to resolve the conflict, and/or identifies the cause of the conflict (e.g., identification of contradicting statements, etc.).

121 122 121 121 121 122 122 121 121 122 Conflict managerof non-RT RICmay additionally, or alternatively, be configured to determine whether O1 services have a conflict. For example, conflict managermay determine, in response to a request to provision configuration changes or creation of a performance management (PM) job, whether the configuration and/or performance of the O1 service would cause a conflict (e.g., with the configuration and/or performance of a previous O1 service). If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RIC(e.g., a configuration manager or performance manager of non-RT RIC) to proceed with implementing the O1 service. If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to implement (or not implement) the O1 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.).

121 122 121 121 121 122 122 121 121 122 Conflict managerof non-RT RICmay further be configured to determine whether O2 services have a conflict. For example, conflict managermay request to provision configuration changes on one or more resources of the O-RAN cloud. If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RIC(e.g., a configuration manager or performance manager of non-RT RIC) to proceed with implementing the O2 service. If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to implement (or not implement) the O2 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.).

121 122 123 121 123 121 121 122 122 121 121 122 121 123 121 121 122 122 121 121 122 Although the examples described above are described with respect to A1, O1, and O2 services, conflict managermay provide conflict management to other services, such as services management and exposure (SME) services that enable services provided over an internal interface (R1 interface) of non-RT RICand their exposure and extensibility (e.g., registration of a service, update to service registration, discoverability of a service), data management and exposure (DME) services that manage the data of applications, and/or other services, such as AI/ML services. For example, conflict managermay determine if there is a conflict of SME services when applicationsperform service registration and/or updates to the service registration (e.g., determine if the service conflicts with previously registered services). If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RIC(e.g., a service manager of non-RT RIC) to proceed with the registration or update of the SME service. If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to permit or deny the registration or update of the service. As another example, conflict managermay determine if there is a conflict when applicationsperform service discovery or authorization (e.g., determine if the service conflicts with previously discovered or authorized applications). If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RIC(e.g., a service manager of non-RT RIC) to proceed with allowing the service to be discovered. If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to deny the discoverability of the service.

1 FIG.B 1 FIG.A 1 FIG.B 122 112 122 142 144 168 169 112 122 124 146 148 150 is a block diagram illustrating further example details of the non-RT RICof. In the example illustrated in, SMOmay include non-RT RIC, one or more AI/ML models, one or more functions(e.g., NSSMF, NFMF, and other functions), and open interfaces, such as O1 termination interfaceand O2 termination interface. SMOmay manage non-RT RIC, near-RT RIC, O-RAN managed elements (e.g., centralized unit (O-CU), O-RAN decentralized unit (O-DU)of one or more base stations), and resources in O-RAN cloud.

122 122 123 123 123 123 122 123 122 123 Non-RT RICmay be deployed as a highly scalable, microservices based containerized architecture. In this example, non-RT RICmay onboard, deploy, and/or terminate one or more applications, e.g., rAppA through rAppN (collectively “applications”). Applicationsmay represent applications that leverage the functionality exposed via the framework of non-RT RIC. Applicationsmay provide non-RT RICwith non-real time (e.g., greater than one second) control of RAN elements and their resources. Applicationsmay provide services for radio resource management, higher layer procedure optimization, policy optimization, and providing guidance, parameters, policies, and AI/ML models to support the operation of RAN functions.

123 124 124 124 For example, applicationsmay provide A1 services that provide and facilitate RAN operations and optimization of near-RT RIC, such as providing operational guidance (e.g., policies), enrichment information (e.g., forecasts), and AL/ML services. A1 services may include policy management services such as creating, updating, and/or deleting of A1 policies; receiving policy feedback; querying policy types, identifiers, and status; defining which policy types are supported by near-RT RIC; and registering applications (xApps) of near-RT RICto specific policy types. A1 services may include enrichment information services, such as providing data for model training of AI/ML models, such as forecasts and/or data analytics.

123 124 146 148 122 Applicationsmay provide O1 services that provide configuration management or performance management of O-RAN managed entities, such as near-RT RICand/or RAN nodes, e.g., O-CU, O-DU(also referred to herein as “E2 nodes”). O1 services may provide configuration management services to create, update, and/or delete configurations to O-RAN managed entities. For example, configuration management services may include provisioning operations (e.g., for NSS and NF provisioning) to create a managed object instance (MOI), obtain MOI attributes, modify MOI attributes, and/or delete the MOI. O1 services may also provide performance management services that monitor the status of elements or components in the O-RAN managed entities. For example, non-RT RICmay create, modify, or delete performance management jobs to send heartbeat messages to monitor the status and/or availability of services of RAN nodes or to send trace messages to monitor link failures. O1 services may also provide file management, such as to push files to the RAN nodes (e.g., software updates, beamforming configuration files, ML models, security certificates, etc.).

123 150 150 Applicationsmay provide O2 services that provide infrastructure management and/or network function deployment of resources in O-RAN cloud(also referred to herein as “O-Cloud”). O2 services may provide discovery and administration of O-Cloud resources; Scale-In, Scale-Out of cloud/deployments (e.g., deploying resources with more or less processors); FCAPS of cloud/deployments, software management of cloud platform/deployments; create/delete deployment and associated allocated O-Cloud resources.

123 154 122 123 123 123 123 123 123 Applicationsmay provide service management and exposure (SME) services, data management and exposure (DME) services, and/or other services. SME services may provide services that enable services provided over an internal interface (R1 interface) of non-RT RICand their exposure and extensibility through services including bootstrap, service registration/deregistration or updates to service registration, service discovery or notification, heartbeat, authentication, authorization, etc. Data management and exposure (DME) services may include services that manage data and their exposure between applications. For example, applicationsmay have different functions, such as applicationA configured to collect and analyze data, applicationB configured to generate an ML model based on the results of the analysis, and applicationN configured to make a prediction or inference using the ML model and/or to generate controls for RAN nodes based on the prediction or inference. DME services may manage the data shared between applications, such as the collection of data, the processing of the data, and/or the advertisement of the data.

122 122 158 160 162 163 155 121 122 123 Non-RT RICmay include one or more managers to process the A1, O1, O2, SME, DME services, and other services. For example, non-RT RICmay include a policy manager, performance manager, configuration manager, service manager, data manager, and conflict manager. Non-RT RICmay include other managers, such as an application manager and an application on-boarder, that are configured to manage the installation and deployment of applications.

158 123 154 154 158 151 158 156 151 124 164 Policy manageris configured to control the deployment of policies (e.g., A1 services). For example, in response to receiving requests for A1 services from applicationsvia R1 interface, R1 interfacesends the requests to policy managervia message bus. Policy managermay process the A1 services and may send the A1 services to A1 terminationvia message bus, which provides the A1 services to near-RT RICvia A1 interface. In some examples, the A1 interface may implement an A1AP application protocol based on the 3GPP framework.

160 124 146 148 124 123 154 154 160 151 160 168 124 166 160 150 150 154 154 160 160 169 150 167 Performance manageris configured to control the deployment of O1 services for monitoring the performance of near-RT RICand/or RAN nodes (e.g., O-CU, O-DU). For example, in response to receiving requests for O1 services for monitoring the performance of near-RT RICfrom applicationsvia R1 interface, R1 interfacesends the requests to performance managervia message bus. Performance managermay process the O1 services and may send the O1 services to O1 termination, which provides the O1 services to near-RT RICvia O1 interface. In some examples, the O1 interface may implement REST/HTTPS APIs and/or NETCONF. Performance managermay also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services for monitoring the performance of resources of O-Cloud. For example, in response to receiving requests for O2 services for monitoring the performance of resources within O-Cloudvia R1 interface, R1 interfacesends the requests to performance manager. Performance managermay process the O2 services and may send the O2 services to O2 termination, which provides the O2 services to resources of O-Cloudvia O2 interface.

162 124 124 123 154 154 162 162 168 124 166 162 150 150 123 154 154 162 162 169 150 167 Configuration manageris configured to control the deployment of O1 services for the configuration of near-RT RICand/or RAN nodes. For example, in response to receiving requests for O1 services for the configuration of near-RT RICfrom applicationsvia R1 interface, R1 interfacesends the requests to configuration manager. Configuration managermay process the O1 services and may send the O1 services to O1 termination, which provides the O1 services to near-RT RICvia O1 interface. Configuration managermay also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services for the configuration of resources of O-Cloud. For example, in response to receiving requests for O2 services for configuring resources within O-Cloudfrom applicationsvia R1 interface, R1 interfacesends the requests to configuration manager. Configuration managermay process the O2 services and may send the O2 services to O2 termination, which provides the O2 services to resources of O-Cloudvia O2 interface.

154 123 123 154 154 163 163 152 123 154 123 154 154 155 155 152 123 154 In some examples, R1 interfacealso exposes applicationsto SME services, DME services, and/or other services. For example, in response to receiving requests for SME services from applicationsvia R1 interface, R1 interfacesends the requests to service manager. Service managermay process the SME services (e.g., register/update a service) and may send the SME services to R1 termination, which provides the SME services to applicationsvia R1 interface(e.g., sending response to application regarding service registration, update, or discovery). Similarly, in response to receiving requests for DME services from applicationsvia R1 interface, R1 interfacesends the requests to data manager. Data managermay process the DME services and may send the DME services to R1 termination, which provides the DME services to applicationsvia R1 interface(e.g., sending data from application configured as a data producer to application configured as a data consumer).

154 123 123 R1 interfacemay also expose applicationsto slice subnet management services, such as RAN NSSMF interfaces to retrieve slice service level agreements (SLAs) and slice topologies, and/or slice management, SLA, and slice performance management notifications to applications.

121 122 121 122 121 122 158 160 152 163 155 152 151 121 In accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure, conflict manageris configured to provide conflict management for services of the corresponding interface(s) of non-RT RIC. In some examples, conflict managermay be implemented, for example, by one or more microservices of non-RT RIC. While conflict manageris illustrated as a separate microservice of non-RT RIC, in some examples, the techniques described herein may be performed by one or more other microservices, such as policy manager, performance manager, configuration manager, service manager, and/or data manager. In this example, in response to receiving a request of an A1 service, O1 service, O2 service, or other services (e.g., SME, DME), R1 terminationmay send a message via message busto conflict managerto perform conflict management of the A1 service, O1 service, O2 service, or other services.

121 122 124 123 As one example, conflict managermay provide conflict management for A1 services to create, modify, or delete a policy. A policy may be a declarative policy expressed using formal statements that enable non-RT RICto guide the near-RT RICfunction. As one example, a policy may comprise a scope identifier and one or more policy statements. A scope identifier may represent what the policy statements are to be applied on (e.g., cells, network slices, UEs, UE groups, Quality of Service (QOS) flows, etc.). The one or more policy statements may specify policy goals, such as policy objectives (e.g., QOS, Quality of Experience (QoE), UE level, slice SLA objectives) and policy resources (e.g., resource usage for the policy). Additional examples of policy management services are described in O-RAN.WG2.A1GAP-R003-v03.01; “O-RAN Working Group 2 (Non-RT RIC and A1 interface WG); A1 interface: General Aspects and Principles,” October, 2023, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein. An example of a policy created by a first application (e.g., rAppA) is shown below:

Example A1 policy: {  “scope”: {   “sliceId”: {    “sst”: 3, “sd”: “456DEF”,    “plmnId”: { “mcc”:”248”, “mnc”:”35” }   }  },  “sliceSlaObjectives”: {   “maxNumberOfUes”: 10000,   “maxNumberOfPduSessions”: 800 },  “sliceSlaResources”: {   “cellIdList”: [    {“plmnId”: {“mcc”: “248”,”mnc”: “35”}, “cId”: {“ncI”: 1}},    {“plmnId”: {“mcc”: “248”,”mnc”: “35”}, “cId”: {“ncI”: 2}}    ]   } }

The scope of the above policy includes a slice with slice SLA objectives specifying the maximum number of UEs (e.g., 10000) and maximum number of PDU sessions (e.g., 800), and slice SLA resources specifying target cells in near-RT RIC domain includes certain types of cells.

123 123 In some instances, a second application (e.g., rAppB) may request to create a policy that conflicts with the policy of the first application. For example, an example of a policy of the second application (e.g., rAppB) is shown below:

Example A1 policy: }  “scope”: {   “sliceId”: {    “sst”: 3, “sd”: “456DEF”,    “plmnId”: { “mcc”:”248”, “mnc”:”35” }   }  },  “sliceSlaObjectives”: {   “maxNumberOfUes”: 30000,   “maxNumberOfPduSessions”: 800 },  “sliceSlaResources”: {   “cellIdList”: [    {“plmnId”: {“mcc”: “248”,”mnc”: “35”}, “cId”: {“ncI”: 1}},    {“plmnId”: {“mcc”: “248”,”mnc”: “35”}, “cId”: {“ncI”: 2}}    ]   } }

121 123 121 123 10000 123 30000 Conflict managermay determine whether there are conflicts between the policies of applications(rApps), for example, by determining whether there are contradicting and/or overlapping combinations of scope and/or policy statements (e.g., objective/resource statements). In this example, conflict managermay determine that there is a conflict between the objective statements (e.g., policy of the first application (rAppA) that specifies a maximum number of UEs asand the policy of the second application (e.g., rAppB) that specifies a maximum number of UEs as).

123 123 121 122 121 121 122 121 121 121 122 122 122 Based on the determination that there is a conflict between the objective statements of the policy of applicationA and the objective statements of the policy of applicationB, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict. In some examples, conflict managermay determine which of the conflicting policies to implement based on one or more conflict management rules. As one example, conflict managermay implement a first come, first served rule. In this example, non-RT RICmay implement the policy of the first application if the request to create the policy of the first application precedes the request to create the policy of the second application. Alternatively, or additionally, conflict managermay implement a priority-based overriding rule where the policy of an application with a higher priority is implemented. For example, conflict managermay implement the policy of the second application based on the second application having a higher priority than the first application. In some examples, conflict managermay override a policy with a general scope with a policy specifying a narrower scope. For example, non-RT RICmay implement a policy for a UE specific performance target over a policy specifying performance target for all UEs. In some examples, an operator may configure the conflict management rule to apply for each policy statement. For example, the operator may configure the implementation of a first conflict management rule in response to the determination of a conflict with a first policy statement and configure the implementation of a second conflict management rule that is different than the first conflict management rule in response to the determination of a conflict with a second policy statement. In some examples, parameters of a network resource may be classified into different types, such as an Information Object Class (IOC), ProxyClass, and DataType parameters. An IOC describes the information that can be used in management interfaces. The IOC includes attributes that represent the various properties of the IOC. In these examples, non-RT RICmay apply a conflict management rule based on parameter or based on parameter and parameter type. In some examples, non-RT RICmay provide operator-configurable conflict management rules (e.g., user can specify the type of conflict management rule to apply).

121 124 121 121 121 In some examples, an application (e.g., rApp A) may request for policy guidance before requesting to create the policy. In these examples, conflict managermay, in response to receiving a request for conflict guidance for a policy, check the target near-RT RICand/or check for overlapping scope, contradicting statements, validating limits (e.g., whether limits are exceeded or not), and/or conflicting indirect actions. Conflict managermay provide a response (guidance response) including an indication of whether the policy creates a conflict or not. In some examples, conflict managermay provide a response including one or more recommendations to resolve the conflict (e.g., recommendation to resolve overlapping scope). Alternatively, or additionally, conflict managermay provide a response including information on the cause of the conflict, such as a list of contradicting statements (e.g., contradicting objective/resource parameters).

121 124 146 148 123 148 121 123 148 148 121 122 121 As another example, conflict managermay provide conflict management for O1 services to create configuration requests for managed object instances (MOI) of O-RAN managed elements (e.g., near-RT RIC, O-CU, O-DU). In this example, a first application (e.g., rAppA) may have previously issued a configuration request to create an MOI of O-DU. Conflict managermay determine whether a configuration request of a second application (e.g., rAppsB) to create an MOI of O-DUconflicts with the previous configuration request of the first application to create the MOI of O-DU. Based on the determination of whether there is a conflict between the configuration request of the first application and the configuration request of the second application, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict. Conflict managermay determine which of the conflicting configuration requests to implement based on one or more conflict management rules (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.), as described above.

121 150 123 150 121 123 150 121 150 121 122 121 As another example, conflict managermay provide conflict management for O2 services to provision configuration changes to resources of O-Cloud. For example, a first application (e.g., rAppA) may have previously issued a configuration request to scale up the number of processors of a resource of O-Cloud. Conflict managermay determine whether a configuration request by a second application (e.g., rAppB) to provision a configuration change to the resource conflicts with the previous configuration of the resource as requested by the first application. As one example, if the second application request to configure the resource of O-Cloudto reduce the number of processors to save energy, conflict managermay determine that there is a conflict if the configuration request of the first application configures the resource to increase the number of processors for scalability. Based on the determination that there is a conflict between the configuration requests of the resource of O-Cloud, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict. Conflict managermay determine which of the conflicting configuration requests to implement based on one or more conflict management rules (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.), as described above.

2 FIG.A 2 FIG.A 1 FIG.B 122 121 123 121 158 122 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RT RICproviding conflict management of A1 services, in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, conflict managermay provide conflict management of A1 services (e.g., policy management requests) provided by applications(rApps). Although the techniques for providing conflict management of A1 services are described with respect to conflict managerof, the techniques for providing conflict management of A1 services may alternatively, or additionally, be performed by policy managerofor any other microservice of non-RT RIC.

122 164 122 124 164 152 154 123 124 124 152 121 121 121 123 121 123 123 121 Non-RT RICmay include an A1 interfacethat provides an interface between non-RT RICand near-RT RIC. A1 interfacemay support A1 services, such as policy management services, enrichment information services, and/or AI/ML services. In this example, R1 terminationmay receive, via R1 interface, a request of an A1 service from rAppA, such as a request to create a policy for near-RT RIC. The request may include a policy type identifier, a policy, and a scope identifier (e.g., identifier of near-RT RIC). In response, R1 terminationsends a message to conflict manager(e.g., via a message bus) to determine whether the A1 service has a conflict. For example, conflict managermay examine the formal statements within the policy for contradicting and/or overlapping combinations of scope and policy statements. Conflict managermay determine whether there is a direct conflict between policies of one or more applications. For example, conflict managermay determine whether each request specifies different settings for the very same parameters of a target (e.g., two policies include contradicting statements, such as setting different priorities for a slice within a cell, different QoS priority for a QoS of a UE, contradicting technical specification (TS) guidance for a UE or slice, etc.), specifies overlapping scopes, or whether the policies of applicationsperform a change that exceeds the limitation of the target or RAN (e.g., an applicationsetting unrealistic downlink throughput target for a UE). In some examples, conflict managermay determine whether there is an indirect conflict, such as whether one application sets a performance target for all UEs of a slice and another application sets UE specific performance target, or whether an application load balances per-cell per-slice to carry load to another cell while another application does technical specification for that slice that forbids the target cell as a primary/secondary cell.

121 121 158 122 123 121 158 158 156 124 164 124 124 156 152 123 If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct policy managerof non-RT RICto proceed with the creation of the policy for the application. For example, conflict managermay instruct policy managerto process the request to create the policy. Policy managermay generate a command (e.g., HTTP PUT statement) to create the policy and sends the command to A1 termination, which in turn sends the command to near RT RICvia A1 interface. In response to the creation of the policy on near-RT RIC, near-RT RICmay create and send a response to A1 terminationthat indicates the policy has been created, which in turn communicates the response to R1 terminationto send the response to rAppA.

121 121 122 If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to implement (or not implement) the A1 service based on the rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.).

123 152 154 124 154 121 121 121 121 121 152 123 In some examples, an application (e.g., rAppA) may request for guidance before the creation of a policy. For example, R1 terminationmay receive, via R1 interface, a request for guidance on the creation of a policy (e.g., HTTP PUT method) for near-RT RIC. R1 interfacesends the guidance request to conflict manager, which determines whether a conflict would occur if the policy were created. Based on the determination of whether there is a conflict, conflict managermay generate a response to the guidance request that specifies whether the creation of the policy would create a conflict or not. In some examples, conflict managermay provide one or more recommendations to resolve the conflict (e.g., recommendation to resolve overlapping scope). Alternatively, or additionally, conflict managermay provide information on the cause of the conflict, such as a list of contradicting statements (e.g., contradicting objective/resource parameters). Conflict managermay send the response to the guidance request to R1 termination, which in turn sends the response to rAppA.

2 FIG.B 2 FIG.B 2 FIG.A 1 FIG.B 2 FIG.B 121 158 122 is a flow diagram of an example conflict management of an A1 service, in accordance with one or more techniques of the disclosure.is described with respect to conflict managerofbut may also apply to policy managerofor any other microservices of non-RT RIC. Although the example described inis described with respect to a request to create a policy, the techniques may similarly apply to the modification or deletion of a policy.

2 FIG.B 202 204 123 152 202 121 121 204 In the example of, steps () and () may represent the steps for providing policy guidance. For example, an applicationmay send a policy guidance request (“A1 Policy Guidance Request”) to R1 termination(), which sends a message to conflict managerto provide guidance on whether the creation of the policy would have a conflict. The policy guidance request may include an identifier (A1 policy type ID), a policy (A1 policy), and an identifier of a target for the policy (Near-RT RIC id). In response to determining whether there is a conflict, conflict managersends a response (A1 Policy Guidance Response) to the application that sent the guidance request (). As described above, the response to the guidance request may include an indication of whether the policy creates a conflict or not, one or more recommendations to resolve the conflict, information on the cause of the conflict, such as a list of contradicting statements, or any other information.

206 218 123 152 206 124 152 121 121 208 210 121 Steps () through () may represent the steps for providing conflict management, as described in this disclosure. For example, an applicationmay send a request to create a policy (Create A1 Policy Request) to R1 termination(). The request may include an identifier (A1 policy type ID), a policy (A1 policy), and an identifier of near-RT RIC(Near-RT RIC id). R1 terminationsends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there is a conflict or not with the specified policy. Conflict managermay validate the policy () and determine whether there are any conflicts (). For example, conflict managermay examine the formal statements within the policy for contradicting and/or overlapping combinations of scope and policy statements with other A1 policies.

121 158 124 212 158 124 124 124 156 216 In response to determining that there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct policy managerto create the policy request for near-RT RIC(). For example, policy managermay execute an HTTP PUT request to create the policy on near-RT RIC. In response to the creation of the policy on near-RT RIC, near-RT RICmay create and send a response to A1 terminationthat indicates the policy has been created (214), which in turn communicates the response to R1 termination to send the response to the application ().

121 218 121 In response to determining that there is a conflict, conflict managermay create a response (Create A1 Policy Response) that indicates there is a conflict (). In some examples, conflict managermay implement one or more conflict management rules in response to determining that there is a conflict, such as first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope of the policy; etc.

3 FIG.A 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B 122 121 123 121 160 162 122 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RT RICproviding conflict management of O1 services, in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, conflict managermay provide conflict management of O1 services (e.g., configuration management or performance management requests) provided by applications(rApps). Although the techniques for providing conflict management of O1 services are described with respect to conflict managerof, the techniques for providing conflict management of O1 services may alternatively, or additionally, be performed by performance managerand/or configuration managerofor any other microservice of non-RT RIC.

122 166 112 124 166 152 154 123 148 152 121 123 121 Non-RT RICmay include an O1 interfacethat provides an interface between SMOand the infrastructure management framework supporting O-RAN virtual network functions (e.g., xApps of near-RT RICand E2 nodes). O1 interfacemay support O1 services, such as configuration management services and/or performance management services. In this example, R1 terminationmay receive, via R1 interface, a request of an O1 service from rAppA, such as a configuration request to create an MOI for an O-RAN managed element (e.g., O-DUof a base station). In response, R1 terminationsends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there are conflicts with the configuration modifications requested by the one or more applications. For example, an application may request to modify configuration of a base station, such as a cell identifier. In this example, conflict managermay determine whether the configuration request to modify the cell identifier for the base station would cause a conflict.

121 121 162 121 162 162 168 148 166 If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct configuration managerto proceed with implementing the O1 service. For example, conflict managermay instruct configuration managerto process the request to create the configuration. Configuration managermay generate a command (e.g., createMOI request) to create the configuration and sends the command to O1 termination, which in turn sends the command to O-DUvia O1 interface.

121 121 122 If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to implement (or not implement) the O1 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.).

152 148 154 121 123 121 As another example, R1 terminationmay receive a request to create a performance job (e.g., performance assurance) for O-DU. In response, R1 interfacesends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there are conflicts with the creation of the performance job requested by the one or more applications. For example, an application may request the creation of a performance job that has overlapping IOCs and attributes, contradicts attribute value changes, specify different data networks, etc. In this example, conflict managermay determine whether the request to create the performance job would cause a conflict.

121 121 160 121 160 160 168 148 166 If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct performance managerto proceed with implementing the O1 service. For example, conflict managermay instruct performance managerto process the request to create the performance job. Performance managermay generate a command to create the performance job and sends the command to O1 termination, which in turn sends the command to O-DUvia O1 interface.

121 121 122 If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to implement (or not implement) the O1 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.).

3 FIG.B 3 FIG.B 3 FIG.A 1 FIG.B 3 FIG.B 121 160 162 is a flow diagram of an example conflict management of an O1 service, in accordance with one or more techniques of the disclosure.is described with respect to conflict managerofbut may also apply to performance manageror configuration managerof. Although the example described inis described with respect to a request to modify a configuration request, the techniques may also apply to the creation or deletion of a configuration request and/or the creation, modification, or deletion of a performance job.

3 FIG.B 123 152 302 121 121 304 In the example of, applicationmay send a request for an O1 service (e.g., to create, modify, or delete a configuration or a performance job) to R1 termination(), which sends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there is a conflict or not with the specified O1 service. Conflict managermay validate the O1 service and determine whether the O1 service has any conflicts ().

121 162 160 162 124 146 148 168 148 166 306 160 168 166 168 308 121 152 310 In response to determining that there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct configuration manageror performance manager(depending on the type of O1 service) to proceed with implementing the O1 service. For example, configuration managermay process the O1 service for an O-RAN managed element (e.g., near-RT RIC, O-CU, O-DU) by generating a command (e.g., modifyMOIAttributes request) to modify the attributes of the O-RAN managed element and sends the command to O1 termination, which in turn sends the command to the O-RAN managed element (e.g., O-DU) via O1 interface(). Similarly, performance managermay process the O1 service for an O-RAN managed element by generating a command to create the performance job and sends the command to O1 termination, which in turn sends the command to the O-RAN managed element via O1 interface. In response to performing the O1 service (e.g., modifying MOI attributes, creating performance job, etc.), the O-RAN managed element may create and send a response to O1 termination(). Conflict managermay generate a response to the request for the O1 service and send the response to R1 termination, which in turn sends the response to the application ().

121 168 312 121 152 314 In some examples, conflict managermay notify the application of changes to the configuration of O-RAN managed elements (if the application is subscribed to configuration change notifications). For example, in response to a change in configuration, the O-RAN managed element may send a notification of configuration changes to O1 termination(). Configuration managermay generate a notification of the configuration changes and sends the notification to R1 termination, which in turn sends the notification to the application that is subscribed to receive notifications of configuration changes to O-RAN managed elements ().

4 FIG. 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B 3 FIG.B 122 121 123 121 160 162 122 121 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RT RICproviding conflict management of O2 services, in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, conflict managermay provide conflict management of O2 services (e.g., configuration management or performance management requests) provided by applications(rApps). Although the techniques for providing conflict management of O2 services are described with respect to conflict managerof, the techniques for providing conflict management of O2 services may alternatively, or additionally, be performed by performance managerand/or configuration managerofor any other microservice of non-RT RIC. The conflict management of O2 services performed by conflict managermay operate substantially similar to the operations of the conflict management of O1 services, as described and illustrated in.

122 167 112 150 167 150 152 154 150 154 121 123 121 121 Non-RT RICmay include an O2 interfacethat provides an interface between SMOand one or more resources of O-RAN cloud. O2 interfacemay support O2 services, such as configuration management services and/or performance management services for resources of O-Cloud, such as one or more physical infrastructure nodes that host O-RAN functions (e.g., virtual network functions), the supporting software components, and the appropriate management and orchestration functions. In this example, R1 terminationmay receive, via R1 interface, a request of an O2 service, such as a request to modify the configuration of a node of O-Cloud. The request may specify a modification of the configuration of the node to use additional processors for scalability. In response, R1 interfacesends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there are conflicts with the configuration modifications requested by the one or more applications. Conflict managermay provide conflict management of O2 services similar to the conflict management of O1 services as described above. In this example, conflict managermay determine whether the configuration request to modify the configuration of the node to use additional processors would cause a conflict (e.g., conflicting a previous request to configure the node to use fewer processors to save energy).

121 121 162 121 162 162 169 150 167 If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct configuration managerto proceed with implementing the O2 service. For example, conflict managermay instruct configuration managerto process the request to create the configuration. Configuration managermay generate a command to create the configuration and sends the command to O2 termination, which in turn sends the command to the node of O-Cloudvia O2 interface.

121 121 122 If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to implement (or not implement) the O2 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.).

5 FIG.A 1 FIG.B 122 121 123 121 163 122 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RT RICproviding conflict management of SME services, in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, conflict managermay provide conflict management of SME services (e.g., service requests) provided by applications(rApps). Although the techniques for providing conflict management of SME services are described with respect to conflict managerof, the techniques for providing conflict management of SME services may alternatively, or additionally, be performed by service manageror any other microservice of non-RT RIC.

122 154 123 152 154 123 152 154 123 154 123 154 121 Non-RT RICmay include an R1 interfacethat provides an interface between one or more applicationsand R1 termination. R1 interfaceexposes applicationsto SME services. SME services may provide services that enable R1 services and their exposure and extensibility through services including bootstrap, service registration/deregistration or updates to service registration, service discovery or notification, heartbeat, authentication, authorization, etc. In this example, R1 terminationmay receive, via R1 interface, a request of an SME service from rAppA, such as a request to register a service via R1 interface. The request may specify an identifier of rAppA, a service profile, or other information for registering a service. In response, R1 interfacesends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there are conflicts with the request to register the service.

121 121 121 163 163 152 123 154 Conflict managermay determine whether the request to register the service would cause a conflict (e.g., conflicting a previously registered request). If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct service managerto proceed with registering the service. Service managermay register the service and sends a response to the service registration to R1 termination, which in turn sends the response to rAppA via R1 interface.

121 121 122 If conflict managerdetermines that there is a conflict, conflict managermay instruct non-RT RICto perform an action to address the conflict, such as to implement (or not implement) the SME service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based overriding; scope; etc.).

5 FIG.B 5 FIG.B 5 FIG.A 5 FIG.B 121 163 122 is a flow diagram of an example conflict management of an SME service, in accordance with one or more techniques of the disclosure.is described with respect to conflict managerofbut may also apply to service manageror any other microservice of non-RT RIC. Although the example described inis described with respect to registering a service, the techniques may also apply to the modification or deletion of a service.

5 FIG.B 123 152 502 121 121 504 506 508 In the example of, applicationmay send a request for an SME service (e.g., to register a service request) to R1 termination(), which sends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there is a conflict or not with the specified SME service. Conflict managermay check the authorization of the service request (), validate the service request (), and determine whether the service request has any conflicts ().

121 163 163 510 163 152 123 152 512 In response to determining that there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct service managerto proceed with implementing the SME service. For example, service managermay process the SME service by registering the service (). Service managersends a response to the service registration to R1 termination, which in turn sends the response to applicationvia R1 interface().

5 FIG.C 5 FIG.C 5 FIG.A 121 163 122 is a flow diagram illustrating another example conflict management of an SME service, in accordance with one or more techniques of the disclosure.is described with respect to conflict managerofbut may also apply to service manageror any other microservice of non-RT RIC.

5 FIG.C 123 152 522 121 121 524 526 In the example of, applicationmay send a request for an SME service (e.g., to discover a service request) to R1 termination(), which sends a message to conflict managerto determine whether there is a conflict or not with the specified SME service. Conflict managermay check the authorization of the service discovery request () and determine whether the service discovery request has any conflicts ().

121 163 163 163 152 123 152 528 In response to determining that there is no conflict, conflict managermay instruct service managerto proceed with implementing the SME service. For example, service managermay process the SME service by allowing (or not allowing) the service to be discovered. Service managersends a response to the service discovery request to R1 termination, which in turn sends the response to applicationvia R1 interface().

6 FIG. 1 FIG.B 600 122 is a flow diagram of an example operation of a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) configured to perform conflict management, in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. The example operationis described with respect to non-RT RICof.

6 FIG. 122 122 602 122 123 154 121 In the example of, non-RT RICmay receive, from an application, a request to perform a service using an interface of non-RT RIC(). For example, non-RT RICmay receive requests from applications(e.g., requests for A1 services, O1 services, etc.) via R1 interfaceand sends a message to conflict managerto determine whether the service has a conflict.

122 604 122 121 121 124 123 121 123 121 123 121 121 123 121 121 122 Non-RT RICmay determine whether the service has a conflict (). For example, non-RT RICmay include one or more microservices (e.g., conflict manager) configured to provide conflict management for services of corresponding interface(s) (e.g., A1, O1, O2 interfaces) and services available on those interface(s). In some examples, conflict manageris configured to determine whether A1 services (e.g., policies) for near-RT RICfrom applications(rApps) have conflicts. For example, conflict managermay determine whether there are conflicts between the policies of applications(rApps), for example, by determining whether there are contradicting and/or overlapping combinations of scope and/or policy statements (e.g., objective/resource statements). In some examples, conflict manageris configured to determine whether O1 services (e.g., configuration management services, performance management services) for O-RAN managed elements from applications(rApps) have conflicts. For example, conflict managermay determine whether a request to provision a configuration of an O-RAN managed element (e.g., request to create or update managed object instances (MOI)) would conflict with a previous configuration of the O-RAN managed element. In some examples, conflict manageris configured to determine whether O2 services (e.g., configuration management services, performance management services) for resources of O-RAN cloud from applications(rApps) have conflicts. For example, conflict managermay determine whether a request to provision a configuration of a resource of the O-RAN cloud would conflict with a previous configuration of the resource of the O-RAN cloud. In some examples, conflict manageris configured to determine whether other services have conflict, such as SME services, DME services, AI/ML services, or other services provided by non-RT RIC.

604 122 606 121 121 122 121 121 121 122 122 122 In response to determining that the service has a conflict (“YES” of step), non-RT RICmay perform an action to address the conflict (). In some examples, conflict managermay determine which of the conflicting policies to implement based on one or more conflict management rules. As one example, conflict managermay implement a first come, first served rule. In this example, non-RT RICmay implement the policy of a first application if the request to create the policy of the first application precedes the request to create the policy of the second application. Alternatively, or additionally, conflict managermay implement a priority-based overriding rule where the policy of an application with a higher priority is implemented. For example, conflict managermay implement the policy of the second application based on the second application having a higher priority than the first application. In some examples, conflict managermay override a policy specifying a general scope with a policy specifying a narrower scope. For example, non-RT RICmay implement a policy for a UE specific performance target over a more general policy specifying a performance target for all UEs or override the more general policy broadly applied in the case of the specific UE for the narrower policy. In some examples, an operator may configure the conflict management rule to apply for each policy statement. For example, the operator may configure the implementation of a first conflict management rule in response to the determination of a conflict with a first policy statement and configure the implementation of a second conflict management rule that is different than the first conflict management rule in response to the determination of a conflict with a second policy statement. In some examples, parameters of a network resource may be classified into different types, such as an Information Object Class (IOC), ProxyClass, and Data Type parameters. An IOC describes the information that can be used in management interfaces. The IOC includes attributes that represent the various properties of the IOC. In these examples, non-RT RICmay apply a conflict management rule based on parameter or based on parameter and parameter type. In some examples, non-RT RICmay provide operator-configurable conflict management rules (e.g., user can specify the type of conflict management rule to apply).

121 604 121 122 608 122 124 121 158 122 124 156 124 164 121 121 162 160 168 166 121 121 162 160 169 167 If conflict managerdetermines there is no conflict (“NO” of step), conflict manager, non-RT RICmay implement the service (). In some examples, if conflict managerdetermines that an A1 service (e.g., creation of a policy for near-RT RIC) does not have a conflict, conflict managerinstructs policy managerof non-RT RICto proceed with the creation of the policy for near-RT RIC(e.g., generate an HTTP PUT statement to create the policy and send the command to A1 termination, which in turn sends the command to near RT RICvia A1 interface). In some examples, if conflict managerdetermines that an O1 service (e.g., provisioning a configuration for an O-RAN managed element) does not have a conflict, conflict managerinstructs configuration manager(or performance managerif the request is to create or update a performance job) to proceed with the provisioning of the configuration for the O-RAN managed element (e.g., generate a command to modify MOI attributes of the O-RAN managed element and send the command to O1 termination, which in turn sends the command to the O-RAN managed element via O1 interface). In some examples, if conflict managerdetermines that an O2 service (e.g., provisioning a configuration for a resource of the O-RAN cloud) does not have a conflict, conflict managerinstructs configuration manager(or performance managerif the request is to create or update a performance job) to proceed with the provisioning of the configuration for the resource of the O-RAN cloud (e.g., generate a command to modify configuration of physical infrastructure nodes that host O-RAN functions (e.g., virtual network functions), the supporting software components, and the appropriate management and orchestration functions, and send the command to O2 termination, which in turn sends the command to the resource of the O-RAN cloud via O2 interface).

7 FIG. 7 FIG. 1 1 2 3 4 5 FIGS.A,B,A,A,, andA 700 122 is a diagram illustrating an example computing system in detail, in accordance with techniques of this disclosure. In this example of, computing systemmay implement, for example, a non-real time RIC, such as non-RT RICof.

700 720 722 723 719 721 700 700 Computing systemincludes one or more processors, one or more input devices, one or more output devices, one or more communication units, and one or more storage devices. In some examples, computing systemis a cloud computing system, server farm, and/or server cluster (or portion thereof) that provides services to client devices and other devices or systems. In other examples, computing systemmay be implemented through one or more virtualized compute instances (e.g., virtual machines, containers) of a data center, cloud computing system, server farm, and/or server cluster.

700 151 1 FIG.B One or more of the devices, modules, storage areas, or other components of computing systemmay be interconnected to enable inter-component communications (physically, communicatively, and/or operatively). In some examples, such connectivity may be provided by communication channels (e.g., message busof), a system bus, a network connection, an inter-process communication data structure, or any other method for communicating data.

720 700 123 158 160 162 163 155 121 720 720 700 720 700 123 158 160 162 163 155 121 One or more processorsof computing systemmay implement functionality and/or execute instructions associated with conflict management of a non-RT RIC or associated with one or more modules illustrated herein and/or described herein, including applications, policy manager, performance manager, configuration manager, service manager, data manager, and conflict manager. One or more processorsmay be, may be part of, and/or may include processing circuitry that performs operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Examples of processorsinclude microprocessors, application processors, display controllers, auxiliary processors, one or more sensor hubs, and any other hardware configured to function as a processor, a processing unit, or a processing device. Computing systemmay use one or more processorsto perform operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure using software, hardware, firmware, or a mixture of hardware, software, and firmware residing in and/or executing at computing system. Any one or more of applications, policy manager, performance manager, configuration manager, service manager, data manager, and conflict managermay be hosted by a cloud provider or other third-party.

719 700 700 719 719 719 700 719 719 One or more communication unitsof computing systemmay communicate with devices external to computing systemby transmitting and/or receiving data, and may operate, in some respects, as both an input device and an output device. In some examples, communication unitsmay communicate with other devices over a network. In other examples, communication unitsmay send and/or receive radio signals on a radio network such as a cellular radio network. In other examples, communication unitsof computing systemmay transmit and/or receive satellite signals on a satellite network such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) network. Examples of communication unitsinclude a network interface card (e.g., an Ethernet card), an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, a GPS receiver, or any other type of device that can send and/or receive information. Other examples of communication unitsmay include devices capable of communicating over Bluetooth®, GPS, NFC, ZigBee, and cellular networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G), and Wi-Fi® radios found in mobile devices as well as Universal Serial Bus (USB) controllers and the like. Such communications may adhere to, implement, or abide by appropriate protocols, including Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Ethernet, Bluetooth, NFC, or other technologies or protocols.

722 700 722 722 One or more input devicesmay represent any input devices of computing systemnot otherwise separately described herein. One or more input devicesmay generate, receive, and/or process input from any type of device capable of detecting input from a human or machine. For example, one or more input devicesmay generate, receive, and/or process input in the form of electrical, physical, audio, image, and/or visual input (e.g., peripheral device, keyboard, microphone, camera).

723 700 723 723 One or more output devicesmay represent any output devices of computing systemnot otherwise separately described herein. One or more output devicesmay generate, receive, and/or process input from any type of device capable of detecting input from a human or machine. For example, one or more output devicesmay generate, receive, and/or process output in the form of electrical and/or physical output (e.g., peripheral device, actuator).

721 700 700 721 720 721 720 721 720 721 720 721 700 700 One or more storage deviceswithin computing systemmay store information for processing during operation of computing system. Storage devicesmay store program instructions and/or data associated with one or more of the modules described in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure. One or more processorsand one or more storage devicesmay provide an operating environment or platform for such modules, which may be implemented as software, but may in some examples include any combination of hardware, firmware, and software. One or more processorsmay execute instructions and one or more storage devicesmay store instructions and/or data of one or more modules. The combination of processorsand storage devicesmay retrieve, store, and/or execute the instructions and/or data of one or more applications, modules, or software. Processorsand/or storage devicesmay also be operably coupled to one or more other software and/or hardware components, including, but not limited to, one or more of the components of computing systemand/or one or more devices or systems illustrated as being connected to computing system.

721 721 700 721 721 721 In some examples, one or more storage devicesare temporary memories, meaning that a primary purpose of the one or more storage devices is not long-term storage. Storage devicesof computing systemmay be configured for short-term storage of information as volatile memory and therefore not retain stored contents if deactivated. Examples of volatile memories include random access memories (RAM), dynamic random-access memories (DRAM), static random-access memories (SRAM), and other forms of volatile memories known in the art. Storage devices, in some examples, also include one or more computer-readable storage media. Storage devicesmay be configured to store larger amounts of information than volatile memory. Storage devicesmay further be configured for long-term storage of information as non-volatile memory space and retain information after activate/off cycles. Examples of non-volatile memories include magnetic hard disks, optical discs, Flash memories, or forms of electrically programmable memories (EPROM) or electrically erasable and programmable (EEPROM) memories.

700 123 123 122 123 700 123 123 700 123 732 734 736 738 Computing systemmay provide conflict management for the specific applications. As described above, applicationsmay manage non-real time events within non-RT RIC, such as events that do not require response times of less than one second. Applicationsmay leverage the functionality exposed via a non-RT RIC framework of computing device. Applicationsmay be used to control and manage RAN elements and resources, such as a near-RT RIC, RAN nodes, and/or resources in the O-RAN cloud. Applicationsmay provide one or more services that are performed using interfaces of computing system(e.g., A1 interface, O1 interface, O2 interface, etc.). For example, applicationsmay include services such as policiesfor a near-RT RIC, configuration instructionsfor O-RAN managed elements, performance jobsfor O-RAN managed elements, services for managing the services and/or data, etc.

700 123 158 160 162 163 155 121 Computing systemmay include one or more modules or units configured to perform one or more services or functions of applications, such as policy manager, performance manager, configuration manager, service manager, data manager, and conflict manager, as described above.

158 158 123 154 123 164 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B For example, policy manageris configured to control the deployment of policies (using, e.g., A1 services). For example, policy managermay receive requests for A1 services from applications(e.g., via R1 interfaceof), process the requests for A1 services from applications, and perform the A1 services for a near-RT RIC using an A1 interface (e.g., A1 interfaceof). In some examples, the A1 interface may implement an A1AP application protocol based on the 3GPP framework.

160 124 146 148 160 123 154 166 160 160 154 167 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B Performance manageris configured to control the deployment of O1 services for monitoring the performance of O-RAN managed elements (e.g., near-RT RIC, O-CU, O-DUof). For example, performance managermay receive requests for O1 services for monitoring the performance of the near-RT RIC from applications(e.g., via R1 interfaceof), process the O1 services, and perform the O1 services for the O-RAN managed elements using an O1 interface (e.g., O1 interfaceof). In some examples, the O1 interface may implement REST/HTTPS APIs and/or NETCONF. Performance managermay also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services for monitoring the performance of resources of the O-RAN cloud. For example, performance managermay receive requests for O2 services for monitoring the performance of resources within the O-RAN cloud (e.g., via R1 interfaceof), process the requests for O2 services, and may perform the O2 services for the resources of the O-RAN cloud using an O2 interface (e.g., O2 interfaceof).

162 124 162 123 154 166 162 162 123 154 167 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B Configuration manageris configured to control the deployment of O1 services for the configuration of near-RT RICand/or RAN nodes. For example, configuration managermay receive requests for O1 services for the configuration of O-RAN managed elements from applications(e.g., via R1 interfaceof), process the request for O1 services, and may perform the O1 services for the O-RAN managed elements using an O1 interface (e.g., O1 interfaceof). Configuration managermay also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services for the configuration of resources of the O-RAN cloud. For example, configuration managermay receive requests for O2 services for configuring resources within the O-RAN cloud from applications(e.g., via R1 interfaceof), process the O2 services, and may perform the O2 services for the resources of the O-RAN cloud using an O2 interface (e.g., O2 interfaceof).

163 163 123 154 123 123 154 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B Service manageris configured to manage services, such as registration of a service, update of a service registration, service discovery, etc. For example, service managermay receive requests for SME services from applications(e.g., via R1 interfaceof), perform the SME service (e.g., register/update a service) for one or more applicationsand send a response to the one or more applicationsusing an R1 interface (e.g., R1 interfaceof).

155 123 155 123 154 123 123 154 1 FIG.B 1 FIG.B Data manageris configured to manage the data of applications. For example, data managermay receive requests for DME services from applications(e.g., via R1 interfaceof), perform the DME services (e.g., sending data from application configured as a data producer to application configured as a data consumer) for one or more applications, and send a response to the one or more applicationsusing an R1 interface (e.g., R1 interfaceof).

700 121 121 740 742 744 Computing systemincludes conflict managerconfigured to provide conflict management of services performed using interfaces of the non-RT RIC. In this example, conflict managerincludes an analysis engine, and action engine, and one or more conflict management rules.

740 740 740 740 In some examples, analysis engineis configured to determine whether there are contradicting and/or overlapping combinations of scope and/or policy statements (e.g., objective/resource statements) of A1 services performed using the A1 interface. In some examples, analysis engineis configured to determine whether requests to configure one or more O-RAN managed elements performed using the O1 interface or one or more resources of the O-RAN cloud performed using the O2 interface would cause a conflict (e.g., conflicting MOIs). In some examples, analysis engineis configured to determine whether requests for performance jobs for one or more O-RAN managed elements performed using the O1 interface or one or more resources of the O-RAN cloud performed using the O2 interface would cause a conflict (e.g., overlapping IOCs and attributes, contradicts attribute value changes, specify different data networks, etc.). In some examples, analysis engineis configured to determine whether requests to manage services performed using the R1 interface would cause a conflict (e.g., conflict with previously registered services or previously implemented application).

742 742 744 744 In response to determining that the service has a conflict, action engineis configured to address the determined conflict. For example, action enginemay implement the services based on one or more conflict management rules. As described above, the conflict management rulesmay include, for example, implementing a policy based on a first come, first served basis, implementing a policy from the application with a higher priority, implementing a policy based on scope of the policy, implementing a policy based on an IOC type or based on an IOC type and attribute of the IOC.

786 786 786 786 In some examples, a user may specify which conflict management rule to apply to address the conflict via user interface module (UI). UI modulemay generate data indicative of various user interface screens that graphically depict the conflict management rules UI modulecan output, e.g., for display by a separate display device, the data indicative of the various user interface screens. UI modulecan also output, for display, data indicative of graphical user interface elements that solicit input. Input may be, for example, a conflict management rule to be applied to a particular service, queries, or other input.

121 786 723 721 In accordance with the techniques of this disclosure, conflict managermay interact with UIto display information to the user by generating user interfaces for displaying output data on output device(s)and to receive input data from the user via input device(s).

121 786 800 800 802 802 121 800 804 800 806 808 812 814 804 800 816 818 8 FIG. In some examples, conflict manager(using UI) may provide the capability for the user to view captured A1 policy conflicts and their conflict resolution strategies.is an example of a user interfacedisplaying conflicts in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. User interfaceincludes a conflictstab. When the conflictstab is selected, conflict managergenerates displayto show a summary of existing events (e.g., conflict events) and a graphical chart. In this example, user interfaceshows a total number of events, a number of conflicts detected, a number of conflicts allowed 810, a number of conflicts blocked, and a number of conflicts guided. In this example, graphical chartshows a temporal conflict events graph with a number of events on the y-axis and numbers of blocked conflicts, guided conflicts and allowed conflicts on the x-axis over a period of time. User interfacealso shows a list of eventsselection and a conflict settingsselection.

121 786 816 900 816 902 904 906 908 910 912 121 900 9 FIG. Conflict manager(using UI) may provide the capability for the user to view conflict related events by selection of list of events.is an example of a user interfaceof list of eventsin accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. In this example, the columns of the conflict events list view include events type, having allowed values of A1-P Guidance Request, A1-P Guidance Response, A1-P Conflict Detection, and A1-P Conflict Resolution; time raised, showing a time in human readable format; source rApp, showing an rApp name (which may include a hyperlink to a filtered rApps display), rule ID, showing a rule ID (which when hovered, may show an A1 policy type, a conflict resolution strategy and rApp priority information); outcome, showing allowed values of Allowed, Blocked, or Guided; and description, showing example allowed values of “A1-P conflict guidance request message received from an rApp”, “A1-P conflict guidance response message sent to an rApp”, “Detected an A1-P conflict”, and “Resolved the A1-P conflict.” For example, the events list view may show all conflict events that have occurred within a time period such as a month (e.g., sorted by latest to oldest by default). Conflict managermay support filtering of events list in user interfacewith respect to each column.

121 786 121 121 786 121 9 FIG. Conflict manager(using UI) may provide the capability for the user to view A1-P guidance request and response messages generated by rApps. Conflict managermay enable display of A1-P request response messages when generated on an Events and Logs display (not shown in), and the messages may be filtered for display. Conflict manager(using UI) may also provide the capability for the user to monitor A1 events, in real-time and/or historically. Conflict managermay enable display of A1-P conflict events (when generated) on the Events and Logs display, and the A1-P conflict events may be filtered for display.

121 902 121 786 1000 1002 1004 1006 1002 1008 1004 1010 121 1012 1014 1016 1018 1020 1022 10 FIG. 10 FIG. Conflict managermay provide the capability for the users to view details of a selected event. For example, the user may select an item in the events typelist, and in response conflict manager(using UI) displays information about the selected event.is an example of a user interfacedisplaying information about a selected event in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. In this example, event detailsshows additional information about the selected event. In an example (as shown in), when the event typeis A1 Policy (A1-P) guidance request, event detailsmay show a category, type (e.g., event type), component(e.g., conflict manager), description, time, source rAPP, A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, and A1-P policy guidance request message contents.

1002 1008 1004 1010 1012 1014 1016 1018 1020 In another example, when the event type is A1-P guidance response, event detailsmay show category, type (e.g., event type), component, description, time, source rAPP, A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, and A1-P policy guidance response message contents.

1008 1004 1010 1012 1014 In another example, when the event type is A1-P conflict detection, event details may show category, type, component, description, time, and information related to the A1-P create/update operation that generated the conflict, such as source rApp (e.g., the rAPP that generated the A1-P conflict with A1-P create/update), A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, A1-P create/update time, and A1 policy contents, and information related to the conflicting A1-P that has been generated previously, such as conflicting rApp (e.g., the rApp that generated the A1-P with which the new A1-P conflicts), A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, A1-P create/update time, and A1 policy contents.

1008 1004 1010 1012 1014 In a further example, when the event type is A1-P conflict resolution, event details may show category, type, component, description, time, rule ID, applied resolution strategy (ALLOW, First Come First Served (FCFS), or Policy-Based Overriding (PBO)), resolution outcome (ALLOWED/BLOCKED), and information related to the A1-P create/update operation that generated the conflict, such as source rApp (e.g., the rAPP that generated the A1-P conflict with A1-P crate/update), A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, A1-P create/update time, and A1 policy contents, and information related to the conflicting A1-P that has been generated previously, such as conflicting rApp (e.g., the rApp that generated the A1-P which the new A1-P conflicts with), A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, A1-P create/update time, and A1 policy contents.

121 786 818 1100 122 8 FIG. 11 FIG. Conflict manager(using UI) may provide the capability for the user to view a summary of conflict resolution settings by selection of conflict settingsof.is an example of a user interfacedisplaying conflict settings in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. The user may view the rules available by default, as automatically populated by non-RT RIC.

121 786 122 121 723 121 786 121 121 1100 2 In some examples, conflict manager(using UI) may provide the capability for the user to configure conflict resolution strategies for non-RT RIC, to view a summary of selected conflict resolution settings, to edit selected conflict resolution settings, and select conflict resolutions. In some examples, the possible conflict resolution strategies to be displayed include ALLOW, FCFS, and PBO. Conflict managermay also provide the capability for the user to view helper text on output device(s)to understand what each strategy does. Conflict managermay further provide the capability (using UI) for the user to select a conflict resolution to be applied to ALL A1 POLICY TYPES or PER EACH A1 POLICY TYPE. If ALL A1 POLICY TYPES is selected by the user, then conflict managermay allow the user to be able to select only the conflict resolution strategy (as either ALLOW, FCFS or PBO). If PER EACH A1 POLICY TYPE is selected, then conflict managermay allow the user to be able to select the conflict resolution strategy (as either ALLOW, FCFS or PBO) for each supported A1 policy type (e.g., specified by a PolicyTypeId) shown in the conflict management settings display(for example, including possible supported A1 policy types per A1 type definitions as described, for example, in “ORAN Working Group (WG)(Non-RT RIC and A1 Interface WG) A1 Interface: Type Definitions”, O-RAN.WG2.A1TD-R003-v06.00, October 2023, or other versions and having sections referenced below).

In an example, the following A1 type definitions may be supported.

ORAN_QoSTarget_2.0.0 (which may be used for QOS Target, as described in section 7.2.1 of A1 Interface: Type Definitions).

ORAN_QoETarget_2.0.0 (which may be used for QoE Target, as described in section 7.2.2 of A1 Interface: Type Definitions).

ORAN_TrafficSteeringPreference_2.0.0 (which may be used for Traffic Steering preferences, as described in section 7.2.3 of A1 Interface: Type Definitions).

ORAN_QoSandTSP_2.0.0 (which may be used for QoS optimization with resource directive, as described in section 7.2.4 of A1 Interface: Type Definitions).

ORAN_QoEandTSP_2.0.0 (which may be used for QoE optimization with resource directive, as described in section 7.2.5 of A1 Interface, Type Definitions).

ORAN_UELevelTarget_1.0.0 (which may be used for UE level target, as described in section 7.2.6 of A1 Interface: Type Definitions).

ORAN_SliceSLATarget_2.0.0 (which may be used for Slice SLA target, as described in section 7.2.7 of A1 Interface: Type Definitions).

ORAN_LoadBalancing 1.0.0 (which may be used for Load balancing, as described in section 7.2.8 of A1 Interface: Type Definitions).

In other examples, other A1, O1, O2 and/or SME type definitions may also be supported.

121 786 Conflict manager(using UI) may also provide the capability for the user to define a new priority for each onboarded rApp if Priority-based Overriding (PBO) is selected as the conflict resolution strategy.

121 818 1 1102 1104 1 1102 1106 1200 121 1104 1 1102 1202 1100 121 1104 1 1102 121 1300 121 121 786 1104 1 1102 1302 11 FIG. 12 FIG. 1 5 FIGS.- 13 FIG. Conflict managermay provide the capability for the user to select a rule and edit a corresponding conflict resolution setting (with no deletion of a rule being allowed, in one implementation). For example, as shown in, the user may select an item in the conflict settingslist (such as rule ID). In this example, the resolution strategyfor rule ID/RAN interface policy type is currently FCFS.is an example of a user interfacedisplaying editing of a conflict setting in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. Conflict managermay accept a selection by the user to set the resolution strategyfor rule IDto ALLOW(e.g., using a drop down menu). In response to an indication of the selection at user interface, conflict managerchanges the resolution strategyfor rule IDaccordingly within conflict managerand performs any necessary conflict resolution processing as described above with respect torelating to this change of resolution strategy configured by the user (including determining if a conflict exists due to the change in resolution strategy).is an example of a user interfacedisplaying an edited conflict setting in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. If conflict managerdetermines that the selection of the new resolution strategy of ALLOW for the selected rule/RAN interface policy type does not create a conflict, then conflict manager(using UI) shows resolution strategyof rule IDas having the value of ALLOW.

14 FIG. 14 FIG. 12 FIG. 1 5 FIGS.- 1400 818 1 1102 1104 1 1102 1402 121 1104 1 1102 1402 121 1104 1 1102 121 121 1404 is another example of a user interfacedisplaying conflict settings in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. In this example, as shown in, the user may select an item in the conflict settingslist (such as rule ID). In this example, the resolution strategyfor rule IDmay be set by the user to PBO(e.g., using a drop-down menu) as shown in. Conflict managermay accept the selection by the user to change the resolution strategyfor rule IDto PBO. In response, conflict managerchanges the resolution strategyfor rule IDaccordingly within conflict managerand performs any necessary conflict resolution processing as described above with respect torelating to this change of resolution strategy configured by the user (including determining if a conflict exists due to the change in resolution strategy). Further, conflict managerdisplays rApp priority settingscorresponding to the PBO resolution strategy (e.g., for Admission Control, Trafficsteering, and Rssiaa applications (e.g., rApps)).

15 FIG. 1500 1104 121 1502 121 786 1104 1 1102 1402 1404 1504 1104 1 1102 is an example of a user interfacedisplaying an edited conflict setting and conflict information in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. If this change in resolution strategycauses a conflict as determined by conflict manager, the conflict may be highlighted to the user (for example, as indicated by the “!” symbol). Conflict manager(using UI) now shows resolution strategyof rule IDas having the value of PBO, rApp priority settings(e.g., for Admission Control, Trafficsteering, and Rssiaa applications (example rApps)), and conflict informationinforming the user of the conflict created by the new resolution strategy setting. In response, the user may then further edit the resolution strategyfor rule IDto remove the conflict.

16 FIG. 16 FIG. 12 FIG. 1 5 FIGS.- 1600 818 1 1102 1104 1 1102 1602 121 1104 1 1102 1602 121 1104 1 1102 121 121 1404 1604 1104 1602 is another example of a user interfacedisplaying conflict settings in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. In this example, as shown in, the user may select an item in the conflict settingslist (such as rule ID). In this example, the resolution strategyfor rule IDmay be set by the user to FCFS(e.g., using a drop-down menu) as shown in. Conflict managermay accept the selection by the user to change the resolution strategyfor rule IDto FCFS. In response, conflict managerchanges the resolution strategyfor rule IDaccordingly within conflict managerand performs any necessary conflict resolution processing as described above with respect torelating to this change of resolution strategy configured by the user (including determining if a conflict exists due to the change in resolution strategy). Conflict managermay also display the rApp priorityof “N/A”corresponding to a resolution strategyof FCFS.

13 14 16 FIGS.,, and 1104 1 1102 1104 1 1102 121 818 illustrate three different settings for resolution strategyfor sample rule ID. After resolution strategy(either ALLOW, FCFS or PBO) is set for sample rule IDand no conflicts have arisen due to the change, conflict managermay update the display of conflict settingsto reflect the change of resolution strategy.

17 FIG. 13 FIG. 1700 1104 121 1702 1104 1 1102 1700 121 1704 is another example of a user interfacedisplaying conflict settings in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure. In an example where resolution strategyhas been set to ALLOW (as shown in), conflict managermay show the ALLOW statusfor resolution strategyof rule IDon user interfaceif no conflict is detected. Additionally, conflict managermay show an indication(“Configuration saved successfully”) that the change has been made successfully.

8 17 FIGS.- 121 Although the examples ofillustrate handling A1 policy types for A1 services, similar processing may be performed by conflict managerfor O1 services, O2 services, and SME services (e.g., over an R1 interface).

18 FIG. is a flow diagram of an example operation of a RIC configured to perform conflict management for an interface service using a user interface, in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure.

1802 121 At block, conflict managerdisplays a plurality of policies for respective policy types for an interface service of the RAN.

1804 121 At block, conflict managerreceives a selected conflict resolution strategy for a selected RAN interface policy type.

1806 121 At block, conflict managerdetermines whether a service of the RAN has a conflict with the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

1808 1806 121 1812 At block, when the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type does not have the conflict (NO branch of), conflict manageraccepts the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displays the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type. At block, a configuration of the RAN is modified at least in part based on the selected conflict resolution strategy.

1810 1806 121 At block, when the selected conflict resolution strategy has the conflict (YES branch of), conflict managerdoes not accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displays at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information.

121 786 Thus, conflict manager(using UI) may receive indications of selected conflict resolution strategies for policies from a user, determine whether services of the RAN have conflicts with the selected conflict resolution strategies, and output indications to the user when conflicts occur, so the user may take corrective action.

The following are examples of the described techniques.

Example 1: A Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC) for a radio access network (RAN) includes processor circuitry; and a memory coupled to the processor circuitry, the memory storing instructions, when executed, to cause the processor circuitry to: display a plurality of policies for an interface service of the RAN; receive an indication of selection of a conflict resolution strategy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have the conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type, modify a configuration of the RAN.

Example 2: The RIC of example 1, further includes when the interface service has the conflict, do not accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information.

Example 3: The RIC of any of examples 1 and 2, wherein the indication of the selection of the conflict resolution strategy is received from a user by a user interface of the RIC.

Example 4: The RIC of any of examples 1 through 3, wherein the selected conflict resolution strategy comprises one of allow, first come first served, and policy-based overriding.

Example 5: The RIC of example 4, wherein when the selected conflict resolution strategy is policy-based overriding, the instructions, when executed, further cause the processing circuitry to display a priority of a plurality of applications and the indication of the conflict indicates at least one of the plurality of applications causing the conflict.

Example 6: The RIC of example 5, wherein when the selected conflict resolution strategy is policy-based overriding, the instructions, when executed, further cause the processing circuitry to receive a new priority for at least one of the plurality of applications.

Example 7: The RIC of any of examples 1 through 6, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with a conflict resolution strategy.

Example 8: The RIC of example 7, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type comprises an A1 policy type and the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with an A1 type definition.

Example 9: The RIC of any of examples 1 through 8, wherein the RAN comprises at least one interface including at least one of an A1 interface, an O1 interface, an O2 interface, and an R1 interface of the RIC.

Example 10: The RIC of any of examples 1 through 9, wherein, to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processor circuitry to: determine, based on a comparison of a first policy of an application with a second policy of one of an application and a different application, whether one or more statements of the first policy contradict one or more statements of the second policy.

Example 11: The RIC of any of examples 1 through 10, wherein, to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: determine, based on a comparison of a first policy of the application with a second policy of the application or a different application, whether one or more statements of the first policy overlap in scope with one or more statements of the second policy.

Example 12: The RIC of any of examples 1 through 11, wherein, to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: determine whether one or more statements within a policy of the application exceeds a limit of a target of the policy.

Example 13: The RIC of example 12, wherein the policy comprises a first policy, and wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: receive, from a second application of the one or more applications, a request for conflict guidance for an implementation of a second policy; determine whether the second policy has the conflict; and provide a guidance response to the application based on the determination whether the second policy has the conflict.

Example 14: The RIC of example 13, wherein the guidance response comprises one or more of: the indication of the conflict and whether the second policy creates the conflict; one or more recommendations to resolve the conflict; and the conflict information identifying a cause of the conflict.

Example 15: The RIC of any of examples 1 through 14, wherein to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processor circuitry to determine whether the service has at least one of a direct conflict, an indirect conflict, or an implicit conflict.

Example 16: A method includes displaying a plurality of policies for an interface service of a radio access network (RAN); receiving an indication of selection of a conflict resolution strategy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determining whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have the conflict, accepting the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displaying an indication of the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type, modifying a configuration of the RAN.

Example 17: The method of example 16, further includes when the interface service has the conflict, do not accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information.

Example 18: The method of any of examples 16 and 17, wherein the indication of the selection of the conflict resolution strategy is received from a user by a user interface of a non-real-time (RT) Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC).

Example 19: Non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprises instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC) for managing non-real time events of a radio access network (RAN) to: display a plurality of policies for an interface service of the RAN; receive an indication of selection of a conflict resolution strategy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have the conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and based on the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type, modify a configuration of the RAN.

Example 20: The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of example 19, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with a conflict resolution strategy.

The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented, at least in part, in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. For example, various aspects of the described techniques may be implemented within one or more programmable processors, including one or more microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or any other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry, as well as any combinations of such components. The term “processor” or “processing circuitry” may generally refer to any of the foregoing logic circuitry, alone or in combination with other logic circuitry, or any other equivalent circuitry. A control unit comprising hardware may also perform one or more of the techniques of this disclosure.

Such hardware, software, and firmware may be implemented within the same device or within separate devices to support the various operations and functions described in this disclosure. In addition, any of the described units, modules or components may be implemented together or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. Depiction of different features as modules or units is intended to highlight different functional aspects and does not necessarily imply that such modules or units must be realized by separate hardware or software components. Rather, functionality associated with one or more modules or units may be performed by separate hardware or software components or integrated within common or separate hardware or software components.

The techniques described in this disclosure may also be embodied or encoded in a computer-readable medium, such as a computer-readable storage medium, containing instructions. Instructions embedded or encoded in a computer-readable medium may cause a programmable processor, or other processor, to perform the method, e.g., when the instructions are executed. Computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable storage media and transient communication media. Computer readable storage media, which is tangible and non-transitory, may include random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), a floppy disk, a cassette, magnetic media, optical media, or other computer-readable storage media. The term “computer-readable storage media” refers to physical storage media, and not signals, carrier waves, or other transient media.